OK so I have wanted to start my tank for awhile now i bought live sand and have dry rock and I have all the necessary equipment to start besides LIVE rock and lighting(which I will be purchasing online very soon).

My question is if I can put in the DRY rock and the sand into the tank once I have my light and add Live rock as i get the money and be patient on the amount of time I wait to get fish and a CUC. The sand I have will turn dry rock to live rock slowly and it expires soon. Is it possible to start it?

Thank you

bearwithfish

08-07-2010 10:46 PM

in short yes you can.... as you are not dealing with live stock yet toss a normal light on or even a grow bulb (6500K) and then you are on your way.....

pretzelsz

08-07-2010 11:02 PM

I heard that you need a certain amount of k to have the live rock "grow"like the copepods.

Also Would I need to do the once bi-weekly changes after everything is in line still even without livestock?

bearwithfish

08-08-2010 09:49 AM

nope if you are running a skimmer and at least a 6500K bulb just let it go it will be fine

Is that light system good? I'm not sure and I will order tomorrow hopefully depending on what I hear

That would be a great light. aquatraders had a reputation in the past for being cheap on their products but they have really stepped up their game in the past year. With that light you will be able to keep sps no problem if your tank is a 55gallon. If it's bigger you will want to place the sps at the ver top of your reef structure.

Also, don't run your skimmer during the cycle. That will defeat the purpose of the cycle. I really doubt that your "live sand" you bought is even alive by now. Your beast bet would be to go downs to your lfs and but a smLl piece if live rock and put your sand and dry rock in. The live rock will seed the sand also.

It would be best to do a very thin sand layer in your tank. Your sand should have and average depth of a half inch to and inch.Posted via Mobile Device

pretzelsz

08-20-2010 02:46 PM

Thanks ya my sand is dead but i have 40lb of non live with me too. I tried purchasing the light system and it said I had an unconfirmed address. I will try with another payment method. As soon as I have the money I will go out and buy the live rock needed to seed it and I have changed my plans to attempt to make it a mostly coral tank and make it look great and colorful. My Protein skimmer is really loud so any advice for that? it's a hang-on skimmer and a glass aquarium and I wanted an overflow system but they are out of my price range.

outpost

08-20-2010 09:03 PM

What size tank do you have? Make sure you have a shallow sand bed. Depending on what skimmer you have I could help you with the noise thing. A reef tank will be Awesome. I have a 30 gallon reef with a 1 year anniversary tomarrow. It's come a long way. If you have and questions feel free to pm me. Posted via Mobile Device

pretzelsz

08-20-2010 10:39 PM

This might be a stupid question but I was reading an article on lionfish today and found a couple of them that were suited for my tank I came up with the Pterois antennata (Spot finned lion) and the Dendrochirus biocellatus (Fu Man Chu lion)would either of these beautiful fish be suited for my tank/experience? I would wait awhile to get corals in my tank first if that was a good idea. I have read they are disease resistant and are venomous and like to hide under rocks in cave and will eat ghost shrimp while adapting to the tank then will start to eat prepared food. Any feedback would be appreciated along with facts that would be helpful whether it be saying NO to the idea or a temp problem( I had been reading on cold water ones) :thankyou:

outpost

08-20-2010 11:10 PM

A fuzzy dwarf lionfish is around the same size and is a lot less expensive than the Fu man chus I know for sure. I have a fuzzy dwarf in my 30 gallon reef and he doesn't bother anybody. He has been in there for about 8 months and hasn't bothered anybody or grown. He's about 3" long.

It would he fine for you to have a lionfish but really limits the types of really cool inverts yu can have. Also you has to get your other reef fish at a bigger size so they don't get eaten.

Again WHAT SIZE IS YOUR TANK?? !!!!!!

Also corals aren't as hard to keep as everyone says. They are relatively easy if you know how to do a few simple things. You don't have to hold off on getting corals. Once your tank is done cycling you can go ahead and get a couple of sorties and see how you do with them.Posted via Mobile Device